Décor Inspiration: Richard Found’s Ultra-Modern Country House in the Cotswolds

As you know, we're unabashed maximalists here at TIG, but every once in a while, we fall in love with a modern space. The reason why we were drawn to this particular space, though, is the stunning way it blends both traditional and contemporary, old and new: this country home in the Cotswolds belonging to Richard Found and his wife is the best of both worlds. Found, a 20-year veteran of minimalist architecture discovered the 16.5-acre plot at the back of a local paper, its crumbling 18th-century cottage barely visible:

“It was 2007. We were looking for a place outside London and my wife had signed us up to a Cotswolds magazine, in which I spotted the listing for this place. I came down off the back of that picture and paid the deposit that day. It was just a derelict cottage with a load of ramshackle outbuildings, corrugated garages, chicken runs and an outside loo. It probably hadn’t been touched for 80 or 90 years." (The Modern House)

Found had planned to demolish the cottage, creating a brand new, ultra-modern space. But from the moment the architect set about to transform the property, almost immediately the cottage was spot-listed, with local planning officials announcing a strict set of rules that would make the cottage the centre of any design proposals and preserve the sightlines to its front and rear facades. Consequently, the architect spent six months refurbishing the old Grade II-listed, 18th-century gamekeepers cottage, replacing the floors with underfloor-heated pavers and sandblasting the black-painted beams to their original state. Today the cottage is a guest house of sorts, while all around and set behind it is an extensive extension of concrete and glass that blends with the natural environment (including a garden by Lady Mary Keen) in such a non-intrusive way that even the planners were delighted. Scroll through for a glimpse...